Legal counsel to the family of an RG Kar victim on the anti-rape law in West Bengal

Calcutta (West Bengal) [India]September 4 (ANI): CPI(M) MP and legal adviser to RG Kar victim's family Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya on Wednesday criticised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's move to bring an anti-rape bill called Aparajita, calling it “absolutely useless” and aimed at confronting the central government rather than genuinely addressing the problem.

Bhattacharya also claimed that Banerjee's bill was a mere eyewash and an attempt to divert people's attention from the main issue.

“They have the legislative power to make a law and accordingly they have brought a bill but it is absolutely useless. No authority can complete an investigation within a limited time and then go to court and complete it in a specific time. This is all populist talk. Ultimately it will not benefit anyone. This will give them another step forward in the fight against the central government because most likely this bill will not be approved by the President. They will continue to rant against the central government, that is the reason for introducing this bill. Nothing else,” said Bikash Ranjan.

“Across all borders, people are completely frustrated and angry with this government. It has only tried to divert people's attention from the main issue,” he added.

The West Bengal Parliament on Tuesday unanimously passed the Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill, 2024, which was enacted following the tragic rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9.

Addressing the Assembly after introducing the Women's Rights Bill, 2024, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the bill was being brought to protect the dignity of women and that there would be ripple effects if abuses were to occur in Bengal.

“I wrote two letters to the Prime Minister but did not get any response from him. Instead, I got a reply from the Minister for Women and Child Development but I also replied to her reply and informed the Prime Minister. When the Judiciary Code Bill was passed in a hurry before the elections, I said that it should not be passed in a hurry; the states were not consulted in the process. I have often opposed it as the states had not taken any advice on this. The Bill should have been passed after discussion with the Rajya Sabha, the opposition and all parties but that did not happen,” Banerjee said.

“That is why we are bringing this bill today to ensure protection of women. If Bengal is treated badly, it will have a spillover effect,” she added. (ANI)